Hydrocarbon burner



JulyA 17,1928. y 1,677,447

F. HIGGINS ET AL l v HYDROCARBON BURNER Filed June '22, 1925 v 2sheets-sheet 1 y AEV-,-

Parent! July 17.51928.

'UNITED STATES HYDROCARBON BU t: f uur? Application med June 22, 1925.Serial No. 88,942.

y l pressure, together with air. which produces a bluish or almostcolorless llame of intense heat.

llt is a further object of this invention to provide a novel system ofcontrol for the burner including a sparkin mechanism for producinginitial combustio llith these and other objects in view;

which will become more apparent in the following description anddisclosures, this invention comprises the novel structure andAcombinations hereinafter described and more particularly pointed outand defined in the appended claims. l'n the accompanying drawings whichilli'istrate 'a preferred form of this invention andin which similarreference numerals re- `fer to similar features in the diderent views:AFigure 1 is an elevational view of the oil burning apparatus installedin connection vwith a furnace. j"

Figure 2 is a plan view showing diagrammatically the control system.Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the Water tank. y mvEigure e is an enlarged 'sectional view upon the line' IV--IV ofFigure 1. Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical View through the tire pot.

.das illustrative of this invention., there is shown a furnace 1 inwhich the lire pot 2 of the systemis positioned. A water tank 3 ispositioned adjacent the furnace. From the tank 3. a pipe el entends intothe furnace and directly above the tire pot comprises a coil ein whichreturns throuvh a branch 4* and the pipe sections 5 an 6, to a safetyvalve 7 which communicates with the top of the tank. A pipe 8 providedwith a control valve 9 extends from the pipe 6 and M connecte with apipe 10 that communimtea sectional lishes communication between the hoodand .with the top of the lire nozzle 11 (Figures 4 and 5).

The Water in the tank 3 is maintained at constantlevel through a float12 which is attached to a rod 13 extending through the top of the tank.The rod 13 connected to one end of a lever 14 pivoted intermediate itsends upon a bracket 15. The other end of the lever 1d is connected bySuit-able linkage 16 with a valve 17 in the water supply pipe 18 of thetank. A low pressure gauge 19 is connected to the to of the tank forindicating the pressure o the steam.

The oil su ply pipe 2O for'the system extends throug a regulating box 21the mechanism in which will be later described. From the regulating box,the oil nsupply ,extends through the wall of the furnace and into thefront end of the tire nozzle llas shown in Figure 45. Adjacent theregulating box, there is a trip valve 22 in the pipe 20, which is oerated by the usual trip bucket 23 from whic a pipe 24 extends. rlhepipe 24 extends into the lower part of the fire pot. As such a tripbucket and its functions o are' old and well-known it need not be morespecifically described.`

The re pot 2 which is best shown in Figures and 5 consists of asubstantially1 cyllndrical body portion` 2a with a down- 85 wardlydirected hood25 which is offset with l respect to the body portion, butintegral therewith. The wall 'of the body portion is not continuous;there is a gap 26 that esta-hbody portion. The hood is so formed inconnection with the body portion that the .outer wall of the gap lies insubstantially the same plane as the inner surface of the adjacent wallof the fire pot. The inner side of the gap 26 is formed by the junctureWall 27 of the hood and body portion. This juncture wall slopes inwardlyand serves to deflect the flames with reN ect to the gap 26. This gapserves as a t ioroughfare for i0 air which may enter the fuel nozzlethrough VYan inlet 28. The nozzle 11 is supported in the Wall 29 thatconnects the detlector portion 27 with the wall of the hood below thegap 26. According to this construction, the

fuel mixture passing through the nozzle 11 will be tangentially directedagainst the wall of the body portion and be given a swirling motion;after substantially one revolution the same will strike the deector 27and be 11 interfere with the operation of the nozzle.

The nozzle consists of a hollow Venturi tube. A nut is threaded in theouter end of the tube, the oilpipe 20 being secured in saidv nut.\ Thisnut has an extended tube 31 which communicates'with the oil pipe 20.

This tube extends into a second nut 32 threaded in the nozzle 11 inspaced relation with the nut 3() to provide a steam chambertherebetween. The nut 32 is provided with a forwardly projecting nozzle33. It will be noted that the passage in the nozzle 11 is cylindrical atthe rear; it then becomes conical to provide a restricted portion whichmerges intoA a flaring portion to fgive a Venturiefl'ect to the mixture.

It will be noted that-thetube 31 in the nut 30 fits loosely in the nut32. Consequently the steam entering the pipe l() will pass into thenozzle of the nut 32 and mix with the oil and as the steam has beensuperheated and is dry, there will be no hindrance to combustion. Theair inlet 28 communicates with t-he conicalgportion of the passage inthe nozzle and forward of the nut 32. Consequently, the air will becomemixed with the oil after the steam strikes the oil.

In referring to Figure 5, it will be noted that the body portion 2a ofthe fire pot has a downwardly sloping annular flange 2b which forms partof the bottom thereof.

The remainder of the bottom is formed by a basin 34 or the like attachedto the flange 2b. An electrical heating unit 35 is attached to thebottom of the'basin 34. A-pair of conductors 36 and 36a which passthrough insulated blocks 37, in the bottom of the' basin, convey thecurrent with respect t0 the heatingr unit.

The fuel mixture will initially drop into the basin 34 and be heatedinto vapor which will be ignited by an' electrical spark pro-4 duced bythe spaced conductors 38 and 39 above the heating unit. These spacedconductors, which may be termed the spark 'wires, extend throughsuitable insulated blocks 37 in the base of the basin to the' electricalcontrol which will be later described. An aperturcd cover 40 having anupwardly flaring portion around the aperturetherein rest-s upon the topof the fire pot and produces a Venturi effect with respect to theemitted flames. p i

Referring now to the control mechanism which is housed in the box '21and which is shown in Figure 2, it will be seen that the conductor 36dof the heating unit connects with a wire 4l leading from a high tensioncoil 42- to a source of power, and that the` other wire 36 of theheating unit connects with a resistance coil 42a which in turn connectswith a stationary switch contact 43.

The spark wire 38 is connected to the high nectedto an arm 48intermediate the ends thereof; one end of the arm has a projecting pin49 while the other end is connected to one end of a link 50. The otherend of the link 50 is pivotally connected to a core 51 of a valveclosing solenoid 52.

with a flexible switch element 45\ Mounted loosely upon the axis of thearm 48, there is a second arm 53 which is pivotally connected by a link54 with a rod 55 embodying a core 56 of a valve opening 'and switchclosing solenoid 57. The rod 57 extends contiguous to and past arotaryswitch 58 into a switch opening solenoid 59;

the rod being provided with a suitable core 60 for such solenoid. Therod 55 is also pivotally connected by a link 61 to the rotary switch 58.

The rotary sw1tch comprises an insulated` disk having an arcuateconductive portion 62 upon its periphery adapted tol form electricalconnections between the stationary contactmembers 63, 64 and 43 aswilllater more fully appear.

After the system has been started, .it may be automatically regulated bya 'thermostat 65 in the dwelling room. The deflecting portion of thisthermostat is connected to the source of power through a conductor 66which is connected by a conductor 67 with the switch opening solenoid59. The low temperature' side of the thermostat is con# nected by a'wire68 with the valve opening solenoid 57 and the high temperature side ofthe thermostat is connected by a conductor 69 with the valve closingsolenoid 52.

After the system has been put into operation, it is desirable to rotatethe switch to oft' position. In order to accomplish this the switchopening solenoid must be energized. For this purpose, a conductor 70leads from the solenoid 59 to a stationary contact-71 above the yieldingswitch member 45. Obviously, after the thermostatic bar 46 has beenbrought into engagement with the yielding switch member 45, it willcontinue to move asits temperature increases until it strikes thecontact 71 for completing the circuit through the solenoid '59 whichwill actuate the bar 55 for rotating the switch The operation is asfollows:

In the position shown in Figure `2, the switch 58 is in oil' positionand the automatic valve in the oil supply pipe is closed. N ow if theswitch 72 is closed, the circuit through the solenoid 57 will becompleted through the low temperature side of the thermostat 65. Thersolenoid 57 will attract` the core 56 and shift the rod 55 to theright, thereby closing the'switch 58. Simultaneously, the arm 53 willengage the pin 49 and swing the arm 48 to the right for opening the oilvalve, the oil then flowing into the fire pot.

As soon as the switch 58 is rotated to closed position, it will put thecontact 43 in circuit and establish the circuit through the heating unit35 for heating and Vaporizing the oil. By the time the oil isyvaporized, the thermostatic bar 46 will be suiiciently heated by theresistance'coil 42a to flex upwardly and contact with the switch element45 for completing the circuit through the high tension coil 42; to whichthe spark wires connectjconsequently the sparks produced across the gapof the spark wires 38 and 39 will ignite the vapors' and start theburner. A short interval after the thermostatic ,bar 46 has contactedthe switch ele- Y ment 45,' it will suifhcientlyiiex through additionaltemperature to force the said bar 46 against the contact 7l forcompleting the circuit through the solenoid 59 which will becomeenergized and draw the rod 55 back to the position shown in Figure 1 androtate the switch 58 to open position for disconnecting the Contact 43and breakingthe circuit through the heating unit 35` and the sparkwires. When the rod 55 is drawnl to the left, the army 53 will swingaway from the pin 49, leaving the valve open. However, as long as thebar 45 remains in contact with contact post 71 there will be a shortcircuit through the solenoid 59. In open position, the solenoid `571will be in circuit and the switch may be actuated back and forth asbefore explained, after the bar 46 has cooled sufficiently to break theconnection with the post 7l, provided the temperature in the room hasnot suiiciently risento break the contact at the lowv temperature sidewith the solenoid 57. However, no harm will be done, Vsince the valve inthe pipe line will remain open as the pin 49 on the valve arm 48 isbeyond the range of movement of the arm 53. As soon as the thermostat 65is suiiiciently heated, the connection through the low temperature sideto the solenoid will,

closing the .valve in the oil supply pipe. "lhis movement will bring thepin 49 in close proximity to the arm 53, so that when the room coolsoill and establishes the contact through the solenoid 57, for actuatingthe bar 55 to the right, thevarm 53 will engage the pin 49 and open theoil valve, when the operation may be repeated as before explained.

l/Ve are aware that many changes may be made, and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through .a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and we therefore do not purposelimiting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by theprior art.

"We claim as our invention:

l. In an oil burning system, a substantially cylindrical fire pot havingan offset portion, with a 'deflector upon the inner side of said offsetportion, the outer wall of said offset portion forming a parti straightcontinuation of the wall of the cylinder, and a fuel nozzle'so locatedin said offset portion as to direct the fuel tangentially of the wall ofthe lire potto produce a swirl beyond said olfset portion.

2. In an oil burning system, a substantially cylindrical re pot havingan oli'set portion with a gap communicating with the interior thereof, adeflector at the inner side of said gap, anda nozzle so located in saidoffset. portion as to direct the flame tangen- Y tially Aagainst the repot, said deilector diverting the flames from said nozzle.

' In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. v

. FRANK HIGGINS. v

ARTHUR E. NORDSTROM.

